17 hours Ago
Pune: Commuters faced confusion on Friday morning when the Bhide Bridge near Deccan Gymkhana, a key link to peth areas, was unexpectedly closed to traffic for Metro work. This forced vehicles onto alternative routes. However, the bridge was reopened in the afternoon.
Maha Metro officials explained that the bridge was reopened due to a lack of prior notice to the commuters. "The sudden closure before the evening rush hour would have caused significant disruption, so the plan has been rescheduled to Sunday," the officials said. "We requested the removal of barricades and the reopening of the bridge.
The bridge will now be closed to vehicles from Sunday night until June 6," the official added. The closure is to facilitate the construction of a foot-over bridge (FOB) providing direct access from peth areas to the Deccan Gymkhana metro station. During this period, vehicles will need to use Lakdi Bridge, Z-Bridge, and other river crossings.
However, fraffic on the riverside road will remain unaffected. The Maha Metro plans to finish maximum works of the bridge before monsoon. Accordingly, a request for closure was tabled before the traffic police, which was approved recently.
Frequent commuters in the Deccan Gymkhana area said that closure of Bhide Bridge often puts additional burden on JM Road, Lakdi Bridge, among others. Sushant Kane, a regular commuter, said closing the bridge for one-and-a-half-month is a long duration. "The authorities should deploy more wardens at key chowks in the Deccan Gymkhana area during the days of closure to keep the traffic moving," he said.
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